Feb, 2012:
Hello Kristy's class! Are you having fun with our old teacher? Mrs McAllister was awesome fun!
Here are some questions that we wanted to know about Australia, We're hoping you can answer them for us. We look forward to hearing from you. From Grade 2 with Miss Temple (Chrissy!)
Evan: How many animals are in Australia?
Erin: Are there more boys or more girls in your class?
What do you do in Australia for fun?
Liam: How many people are in Australia?
Taylor: What is your favourite part about school?
What do you bring when you have the sleepover at school?
How did you celebrate on Australia Day? (We had vegemite on toast and got keyrings from Chrissy/Miss Temple)
Hannah: Have you seen any snakes yet?
What do you do at recess?
Shane: Did you see any blue-tongue lizards?
Christina: Have you ever seen a kangaroo?
Alex: Do you guys read Andy Griffiths books? (Chrissy: Can you recommend any?)
What languages do you guys know?
Ryan: Have you seen any Koalas fall out of a tree?
Kifaya: What do you do inside the class?
Keegan: Did you see any echidnas or dingoes?
Breea: What kind of plants do you have in your garden at school?
Maxwell: What kinds of sports do you play at school - in P.E and at recess/lunch time?
What are some famous people in your country?
Zachory: Do you have any pets at school?
Rebekah: What is your favourite thing to do at school?
Do you celebrate on Valentines Day?
Perry: What kind of Principal do you have?

ANSWERS:

Hello Grade 2!
We have two classes together in one big room. Kristy (Mrs. McAllister) and Kay are the teachers. We loved looking at your pictures and reading your questions. You had many good questions for us! We will answer yours, then come up with some for you!

Evan: How many animals are in Australia?
There are many kinds of animals in Australia. Here are some we thought of:
Kangaroos, giraffes, kookaburras, yellow bellied sea snakes, camels, lots of bugs, echidnas, possums, rabbits, crocodiles, sharks, koalas, platypus, fish, wombats, sugar gliders, dogs, thorny devils (a lizard with spikes on it), Tasmanian devils, spiders, dolphins, snakes, fairy penguins.

Erin:Are there more girls or boys in your class?
We have 13 girls and 8 boys in one class, and # girls and # boys in the other.

What do you do in Australia for fun?
We play lots of sports like cricket, football, and soccer. We also like to go to the beach and swim on hot days. We like to play games like snap, squirt, hot and cold, hide and seek, lego, computers, tiggy (the same as tag), making crafts, biking, painting.

Liam:How many people are there in Australia?
There are about 22 million people in Australia.

Taylor: What is your favourite part about school?
- art
- library
- computers
- P.E. (gym)
- circus and drama

What do you bring when you have a sleepover at school?
We haven’t had it yet but we will need sleeping bags!

How did you celebrate on Australia Day?
Here are some things we did and saw:
- parade
- three big black jets flew over
- sang the national anthem
- sang songs
- had a lot of meat on bbq
- fireworks

Hannah: Have you seen any snakes yet?
When Grace was hiking in the mountains, she saw a Red Bellied Black Snake. Tiger snakes are poisonous, and there is a very poisonous sea snake. Luka’s dad was bitten by a brown snake on his thumb. Mrs. McAllister has not seen any snakes yet. J

What do you do at recess?
- sports
- play with friends on the playground
- play in the veggie patch

Shane: Did you see any blue-tongued lizards?
Oliver saw one in a tree once. Jean saw one when she was on holiday, and James saw one on French Island.

Christina: Have you ever seen a kangaroo?
Lots of us have seen them in the zoo. They do not come into the city
though on their own.

Alex: Do you guys read Andy Griffiths books?
We have a few students who are very excited about these. Some books we like area “Just Ticking” and “Just Crazy”

What languages do you know?
Many of us know only English, but there are some students in our class who know Hebrew, Polish, German, Norwegian, Chinese, Flemish, Greek, Arabic, and Dutch. When we get to Grade 3 we will learn Italian at school.

Ryan:Have you seen any koalas fall out of a tree?
Koalas are in nature reserves, in zoos, and in the wild. They don’t come into the city, but sometimes a baby koala could fall off the mother’s back.

Kifaya:What do you do inside the class?
We learn things, we write, read, do math, play games like “Zip,” “Last One Standing,” play on the computer, and do clapping games like “Miss Mop.”

Keegan:Did you see any echidnas or dingoes?
A few of us have seen these animals in the zoo or in a wildlife park.
What kind of plants do you have in your garden at school?
We have an apple tree, strawberries, mint, a gumtree, different kinds of flowers, carrots, a fig tree, different kinds of grasses, beans, tomatoes, lettuce, and sunflowers.

Maxwell:What kinds of sports do you play at school?
We play football, soccer, cricket, hopscotch, tiggy (tag), and tennis.

Who are some famous people?
Julia Gillard (The Prime Minister)
Steve and Bindi Irwin
Kayne Tremills
Amberley Lobo

Zachory: Do you have any pets at school?
No, but we do see some animals outside, like worms, bugs, butterflies, birds, spiders, and sometimes a cat.

Rebekah: What is your favourite thing to do at school?
- Playing with friends
- Computers
- Games (“Shopping List,” “Connect 4,” “dominoes”)
- Maths (number games)
- art
- library
- reading
- using chalk
- reading to someone
- building with blocks

Do you celebrate on Valentine’s Day?
Valentine’s Day is not celebrated here as much as it is in Canada. A few of us made hearts for other people.

Perry: What kind of a principal do you have?
Her name is Louise. She is a nice lady with reddish hair who likes to go to the market. She tells us things in the assemblies and on the announcements. Sometimes she comes around to classrooms.